Facebook is banning posts that mention various Linux-related topics, sites, or groups. Some users may also see their accounts locked or limited when posting Linux topics. Major open-source operating system news, reviews, and discussion site DistroWatch is at the center of the controversy, as it seems to be the first to have noticed that Facebook’s Community Standards had blackballed it.
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DistroWatch says that the Facebook ban took effect on January 19. Readers have reported difficulty posting links to the site on this social media platform. Moreover, some have told DistroWatch that their Facebook accounts have been locked or limited after sharing posts mentioning Linux topics.
If you’re wondering if there might be something specific to DistroWatch.com, something on the site that the owners/operators perhaps don’t even know about, for example, then it seems pretty safe to rule out such a possibility. Reports show that “multiple groups associated with Linux and Linux discussions have either been shut down or had many of their posts removed.” However, we tested a few other Facebook posts with mentions of Linux, and they didn’t get blocked immediately.
Hope you’re being glib-- because censoring an open-source, more privacy-minded, and alternative operating system to Big Corpo is only an excuse and the continuation.
Well, my point was that it’s funny that people who likely never lift a finger to help people in other ways suddenly come out of the woodwork when it’s technology they like. But yeah, I see your point, it isn’t great that folks won’t learn about it on their walled garden social media and hopefully that might lead them to escape it.
It was more of a call out to people that only care about foss and nothing else, a challenge.
I in general do not think most of the foss community is good because they have shown themselves time and time again to be overly protective of it and themselves in opposition to what most people actually need from software or other things.
It has some very worrying views politically which likely stem from abusers like stallman and that we live under such a myopic, self centered system such as capitalism and so this leads people to have a very blinkered view on what is important, often times, sadly foss obsessives are smug know-it-alls who tell you that if you don’t like it then just fork it or to go back to windows etc, instead of actually being helpful. Not to mention many of them have very bigoted views.
They do not see that foss could be more liberatory if they actually pulled their heads out of their ego and took a more community based approach. I get that some are like this and I am grateful, but I’ve been told many times no without any justification given or given bizzare workarounds that do not actually fix the problem and so had to basically abandon the software they claim is good because it no longer works for its supposed purpose. FOSS is no less hierarchical or authoritarian than other software inherently as many times unhelpful changes are forced upon users without their consent and it can be difficult to change back or disable, but people like to pretend it is for some reason.
Part of the problem with it is that we all live in a system where the developers need money to live and so will refuse point blank to help if they are not paid which sadly leads to them mostly supporting companies and not what people say foss is actually useful for: the common person. So it is as subject to them whims of capitalism as anything else but people like to pretend it is not for some reason.
People do need to eat and so it is good if they are paid, but I wonder how many people actually do so and how much developers care if they do unless they are getting the big bucks from them somehow.
The point therefore is that foss on its own is not as liberatory as people seem to think it is and it is more that people who only care about foss this was directed at.
I use linux and other foss things daily, but I do not think they are as good as they could be because they are actively hostile to people’s needs and to devs too (see the kernel rust incident), this is why I find it a bit silly to care about linux compared to other things, but if people do care about both then that is good.
Also sadly, having more people in the community with more diverse needs and views does not inherently shift many developers and they double down more, so I did not think having facebook censor it was neither here nor there as to whether foss was or could be good or not.
I do understand now that maybe that was presumptious of me but for other reasons unrelated to linux and foss itself and more to the discussions people might have and how much those are allowed or not.
Thank you for explaining! While I didn’t like your initial comment, you definitely brought up some excellent points. I also agree that the FOSS community can be more welcoming.
And it’s been great running into you around here. Hi!
I definitely agree that there are problems with some FOSS enthusiasts, but I don’t think it’s constructive to paint FOSS and FOSS enthusiasts as a whole based on their actions. To me, responding to problems involving diminishing the visibility of Linux and FOSS with “but why don’t you care about x” isn’t particularly constructive, and does little more than drive a wedge between people who think FOSS is a priority (but not their only priority) and people who place FOSS as a lower priority but who are otherwise natural allies.
In particular, the casting of open source devs focusing on what their own creative impulses drive them to make as ‘authoritarian’ is itself an attempt at authoritarian imposition. To take one’s own time out of one’s own day to code something is an act of creativity. FOSS is, by nature, less inclined to operate on a top-down model than corporate software development.
What you’re asking for isn’t a less hierarchical structure, it’s a more hierarchical structure. As it stands, open source devs create what they feel is best and you are, as they say, absolutely welcome to fork it. There’s nothing authoritarian about that. They’ve put their time in to create what they see the need for, and you literally are able to either go code additions you want to see yourself, roll back to earlier versions, or even hire someone to make it for you. You are not free to demand that they create what you want to see.
That isn’t them holding an authoritarian model over end-users, that’s them graciously handing out their hard work, their mental energy, indeed even their spoons, to the rest of us. The only authoritarian part of the conversation between end users making demands of developers and developers focusing on what they choose to spend their time on is the attempted authoritarian demands of end-users.
This is work that they literally give out for free. Not just the end product, but the source. If there’s a feature you want, you literally are welcome to add it. That is not the case with closed-source software. In fact, if you attempt to modify closed-source software and redistribute it, there’s a significant chance that you’ll end up with a lawsuit or at least a DMCA take-down notice on your hands.
Stallman is a creep. 100%. There are other creeps who code. 100%. But there are also all sorts of other people, including members of marginalized groups, who code. For some of them coding is something that helps them feel okay. For others it’s something that takes up a lot of the energy that they have. Sometimes it’s both. It is completely unfair to demand that they code what you want the way you want when you’re unwilling to do that yourself.
I think you’re not really looking at the demands that you’re making of others and exempting yourself from out of hand in the same breath. If you want to see something in FOSS, you have every right to go add that thing. You do not have a right to others doing it for you.
FOSS is the solution to a lot of the problems we’re running into right now. It’s no coincidence that Trump’s inauguration was packed full of billionaire tech bros who are currently doing everything in their power to further marginalize every marginalized group. FOSS may well be the only reason we continue to have spaces where we can have these sorts of discussions and actually advocate for social progress or any form of leftist solidarity.
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Hope you’re being glib-- because censoring an open-source, more privacy-minded, and alternative operating system to Big Corpo is only an excuse and the continuation.
Well, my point was that it’s funny that people who likely never lift a finger to help people in other ways suddenly come out of the woodwork when it’s technology they like. But yeah, I see your point, it isn’t great that folks won’t learn about it on their walled garden social media and hopefully that might lead them to escape it.
Weird that you assume nobody who supports FOSS is helpful to any other leftist causes.
Kinda wedge-like.
wedge-like?
You know, like, targeting leftist solidarity and looking for anywhere and everywhere to drive wedges. Wedge-like.
Oh my intent was the opposite. But fair enough.
I’m curious how this approach is meant to achieve solidarity. Can you elaborate on your thinking?
It was more of a call out to people that only care about foss and nothing else, a challenge.
I in general do not think most of the foss community is good because they have shown themselves time and time again to be overly protective of it and themselves in opposition to what most people actually need from software or other things.
It has some very worrying views politically which likely stem from abusers like stallman and that we live under such a myopic, self centered system such as capitalism and so this leads people to have a very blinkered view on what is important, often times, sadly foss obsessives are smug know-it-alls who tell you that if you don’t like it then just fork it or to go back to windows etc, instead of actually being helpful. Not to mention many of them have very bigoted views.
They do not see that foss could be more liberatory if they actually pulled their heads out of their ego and took a more community based approach. I get that some are like this and I am grateful, but I’ve been told many times no without any justification given or given bizzare workarounds that do not actually fix the problem and so had to basically abandon the software they claim is good because it no longer works for its supposed purpose. FOSS is no less hierarchical or authoritarian than other software inherently as many times unhelpful changes are forced upon users without their consent and it can be difficult to change back or disable, but people like to pretend it is for some reason.
Part of the problem with it is that we all live in a system where the developers need money to live and so will refuse point blank to help if they are not paid which sadly leads to them mostly supporting companies and not what people say foss is actually useful for: the common person. So it is as subject to them whims of capitalism as anything else but people like to pretend it is not for some reason.
People do need to eat and so it is good if they are paid, but I wonder how many people actually do so and how much developers care if they do unless they are getting the big bucks from them somehow.
The point therefore is that foss on its own is not as liberatory as people seem to think it is and it is more that people who only care about foss this was directed at.
I use linux and other foss things daily, but I do not think they are as good as they could be because they are actively hostile to people’s needs and to devs too (see the kernel rust incident), this is why I find it a bit silly to care about linux compared to other things, but if people do care about both then that is good.
Also sadly, having more people in the community with more diverse needs and views does not inherently shift many developers and they double down more, so I did not think having facebook censor it was neither here nor there as to whether foss was or could be good or not.
I do understand now that maybe that was presumptious of me but for other reasons unrelated to linux and foss itself and more to the discussions people might have and how much those are allowed or not.
Thank you for explaining! While I didn’t like your initial comment, you definitely brought up some excellent points. I also agree that the FOSS community can be more welcoming.
And it’s been great running into you around here. Hi!
I definitely agree that there are problems with some FOSS enthusiasts, but I don’t think it’s constructive to paint FOSS and FOSS enthusiasts as a whole based on their actions. To me, responding to problems involving diminishing the visibility of Linux and FOSS with “but why don’t you care about x” isn’t particularly constructive, and does little more than drive a wedge between people who think FOSS is a priority (but not their only priority) and people who place FOSS as a lower priority but who are otherwise natural allies.
In particular, the casting of open source devs focusing on what their own creative impulses drive them to make as ‘authoritarian’ is itself an attempt at authoritarian imposition. To take one’s own time out of one’s own day to code something is an act of creativity. FOSS is, by nature, less inclined to operate on a top-down model than corporate software development.
What you’re asking for isn’t a less hierarchical structure, it’s a more hierarchical structure. As it stands, open source devs create what they feel is best and you are, as they say, absolutely welcome to fork it. There’s nothing authoritarian about that. They’ve put their time in to create what they see the need for, and you literally are able to either go code additions you want to see yourself, roll back to earlier versions, or even hire someone to make it for you. You are not free to demand that they create what you want to see.
That isn’t them holding an authoritarian model over end-users, that’s them graciously handing out their hard work, their mental energy, indeed even their spoons, to the rest of us. The only authoritarian part of the conversation between end users making demands of developers and developers focusing on what they choose to spend their time on is the attempted authoritarian demands of end-users.
This is work that they literally give out for free. Not just the end product, but the source. If there’s a feature you want, you literally are welcome to add it. That is not the case with closed-source software. In fact, if you attempt to modify closed-source software and redistribute it, there’s a significant chance that you’ll end up with a lawsuit or at least a DMCA take-down notice on your hands.
Stallman is a creep. 100%. There are other creeps who code. 100%. But there are also all sorts of other people, including members of marginalized groups, who code. For some of them coding is something that helps them feel okay. For others it’s something that takes up a lot of the energy that they have. Sometimes it’s both. It is completely unfair to demand that they code what you want the way you want when you’re unwilling to do that yourself.
I think you’re not really looking at the demands that you’re making of others and exempting yourself from out of hand in the same breath. If you want to see something in FOSS, you have every right to go add that thing. You do not have a right to others doing it for you.
FOSS is the solution to a lot of the problems we’re running into right now. It’s no coincidence that Trump’s inauguration was packed full of billionaire tech bros who are currently doing everything in their power to further marginalize every marginalized group. FOSS may well be the only reason we continue to have spaces where we can have these sorts of discussions and actually advocate for social progress or any form of leftist solidarity.
also i can multitask damn it :|
deleted by creator
I can care about multiple things at once, is all; I can think about “frivolous” stuff along with other topics considered “far more important.”
Yeah, thank you for explaining 🙂